How Beneficial is Modeling?

Get your head out of the gutter; it’s not a babe in lingerie or a shredded guy in his underwear. Modeling is the act of mimicking or copying someone that has, or is doing, that which you want. I first heard this concept from Tony Robbins (If you haven’t heard of Tony then I highly recommend you google him. He’s truly an amazing human being with unbelievable programs.) and I freaking love it!

You eliminate or sidestep all the hurdles the person you’re modeling had to go through. He/she is saving you years (and in some cases decades) of time and loads of stress. A wise man once said, “Smart people learn from their mistakes, but wise people learn from the mistakes of others.”

I successfully used this strategy to grow Emerson from a house buying company that hadn’t bought any houses to a company that is on pace to buy 20 houses this year.

How did I do it?

I went out and found someone that I wanted to mimic, someone that had success doing what I wanted to do—buy real estate.

I went to a BiggerPockets (another great resource ;)) meetup in January of 2015, where I met Sam Craven of Senna House Buyers. If you don’t know Senna, they are on track to purchase 120 houses this year!

I paid Sam a fee to get their tools, tips and tricks, and to learn what a real deal looks like—saving me costly mistakes in the future. I have still made plenty of less costly mistakes but I absolutely wouldn’t have the success I do today without the mentorship of Sam and Senna.

What should you be wary of when modeling?

Phonies. Said differently, people who act like they are successful, or are doing what you want to do, but really aren’t. I knew Sam was successful from speaking with other real estate investors who purchased deals from Senna, Sam was on the BiggerPockets podcast twice (#33 & #137), and when I met with the team (Mat, Robert and Sam) at their office they put on a great presentation.

The cost. Sometimes, not always, you will have to put some skin in the game. A mentor, coach, or advisor doesn’t want to waste their time with someone who isn’t committed, and I don’t blame them. Think about how many people dabble in real estate. They get caught in analysis paralysis or let the fear of making a mistake stop them in their tracks. No time for that nonsense! Just be prepared to put up some money. You get what you pay for. Think of it as an investment. You’re going to make mistakes and whether that’s now or later those mistakes have a cost. So you can pay now—and avoid the lost time, money and stress that will inevitably come with the future mistakes—or you can pay it later, when the future mistakes strike. Remember; you don’t know what you don’t know.

Whether you’re a real estate investor, newbie, home seller, hard money lender or cash buyer you can use modeling to better your life, inside or outside of real estate.

I’ve already described the majority of the benefits of modeling; saves time, money, and reduces stress. But, the biggest benefit for me was the fact that I was following a proven system. A system that allowed Sam and Senna to buy 27 houses in their first year. This not only gave me confidence when I started but when times were tough—no matter how many coaches, mentors and advisors you have there will still be rough patches—I remembered; the system and process will lead to deals. It’s been proven. Sam and Senna did it and so can I!

Whether you’re a real estate investor, newbie, home seller, hard money lender or cash buyer you can use modeling to better your life, inside or outside of real estate. Is there one area of your life that you want more out of; health, business, finances, relationships or growth? Maybe you’re performing above average but want to take it to the next level! Then I challenge you to find a person that has the health, the business, the money, etc. that you want and model them for the next 30 days. Think of what your life will be like in the next five years if you stay in your current situation… Dissatisfied, unfulfilled, frustrated.

Now think of what your life will be like in the next five years when you take that particular area of your life to the next freaking level! The fulfillment, the joy, the growth and the energy you’ll have from improving that area of your life. What are you waiting for?!

One of the saddest things in life is to get to the end and look back in regret, knowing that you could have been, done, and had so much more. - Robin Sharma